The four-member committee appointed by the Haryana government to probe into the death of seven-year-old Adya Singh during dengue treatment at Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurugram, has also found faults with the treatment of patients from Economically Weaker Sections at the hospital.
According to the panel, the hospital uses high-cost drugs for the EWS patients deterring them from opting for treatment, even as every follow-up patient is shown as a new case to increase their number.
As per the conditions under which land has been given to Fortis for construction of hospital at confessional rates, “subsidised rates at 30% of the normal charges shall be charged for 20% of functional beds for the weaker section of the society”.
The committee in its 40-page report has observed that FMRI has provided the medical records and bills of 15 patients, who had been extended 70% discount on their admission charges.
“It has been observed that they (FMRI) are showing every follow-up patient as a new case so as to increase their number. Most of their patients are chronic renal failure cases and every time they come for dialysis, they are counted as new patients,” said the report.
Higher cost drugs
The committee further said that even for EWS patients higher-cost drugs are used by FMRI despite same-composition medicines being available in their pharmacy at much lower prices.
“This offsets any financial discount to the patients of EWS... When bills are prepared using high-cost drugs, estimates of cost to patients even after 70% discount is so high that they would not opt for treatment at FMRI,” the report said.
The FMRI clarified to The Hindu : “We do not create any differentiation between EWS and paying patients, neither logistics wise, nor on usage of drugs and consumables.”
“Each time a patient visits the hospital on a different day, a new episode is created and it is treated as a new number. This is the practice followed by all hospitals,” the hospital added.
